Royal Duel – Wait, I’m the One Who’s Trash?!

“Mmm~ Waking up naturally really is the best.”

Luo You glanced outside.

Judging by the light, it was around 8 a.m.

She turned over and got out of bed—but the moment her toes touched the ground, her whole body froze.

Her legs clamped together instinctively.

A strange, lingering sensation crept up from below.

Her face flushed red all the way to her ears.

She darted to the door like a frightened animal.

The water glass balanced on the doorknob was untouched.

The windows were sealed tight.

That meant… no one had snuck in last night.

Which left only one explanation.

“Ugh—wait… After transforming into a girl, have my desires gotten stronger too?”

Luo You searched her memory.

She seemed to recall having a rather exciting dream last night.

And this, apparently, was the aftermath.

“Damn it!”

She couldn’t believe something so ridiculous was happening to her.

Could she really be… that much of a depraved woman?

With a straight face, she grabbed a towel and stepped into the bathroom.

“Transform.”

Without hesitation, she triggered her magical transformation.

Then she removed the gem hanging from her neck—the Memory Stone—and began browsing through the captured images of magical girls she had once “defeated.”

Throughout her past life as a magical girl hunter, collecting CGs of their downfall had become her hobby.

To her, recording the moment when these pure, noble magical girls collapsed mentally—when their expressions twisted into broken despair—was a meaningful pursuit.

“Now, who should I pick… Ah, you’ll do.”

The image froze on the current Fifth Seat: Broken-Winged Butterfly.

Though she was a magical girl, her eyes always seemed to glint with a dangerous light.

Her emotions rarely showed—always wearing that gentle, smiling mask.

People called her “two-faced” or “deep schemer.”

These types were usually hard to get along with.

If you weren’t close to her, you might not even realize what triggered her anger—only that you were being quietly pushed away.

But for Luo You…

That was never a problem.

---

“Big sis?!”

Nightingale stared at Broken-Winged Butterfly in shock.

This gentle older-sister type, always smiling softly, now had a murderous gleam in her eyes—so dark it was like condensed hatred.

“That woman…!”

Broken-Winged Butterfly recalled the day she had fallen to Elera.

Tears of blood seemed to well in her eyes.

In her memories, after enduring a ruthless, shameful conquest, she had knelt on the floor in utter fear, sincerely and seductively offering a perfect, alluring dogeza toward the bed.

Naturally, losers weren’t allowed to wear clothes.

A delicate foot lifted her chin.

That woman—Elera—spoke in a lazy drawl:

“They say you’re unreadable, always wearing two masks? How ridiculous.

I’m certain the expression you’re wearing now is the truest one you’ve ever shown.”

Broken-Winged Butterfly had no idea what kind of expression she had back then.

But just as Elera said, it was likely the most honest manifestation of her inner fear.

“Elera… I’ll make you… grovel at my feet, covered in filthy words, humiliated a thousand times over, licking my toes in shame…!”

[Ahhh! This isn’t the magical girl I know! I didn’t see anything! Nothing at all!]

Nightingale clutched her face, wishing someone would erase her memories on the spot.

---

After adding Broken-Winged Butterfly’s CG to her spell materials list, Luo You moved on to the next.

“Oh? I remember these two…”

Among the many CGs, two nearly identical girls appeared—blindfolded, tightly bound, squirming helplessly on the floor, pleading for mercy.

“Ah, it’s them.

They put up quite the fight with their teamwork.

Took some effort to… ‘crack open.’

But the coconuts that take the most effort to harvest are always the sweetest~”

These two were the twin sisters Ji Yue had once mentioned—captured together by Elera—known as the Ten Seat members Xingyu and Liyun.

Everything about them matched perfectly: their speech quirks, mannerisms, outfits, even their sensitive spots.

It left a deep impression on Luo You.

---

Current Third Seat: Xingyu.

Her magic flared uncontrollably, forming a folded, pure-white wing on her left side.

Feathers drifted gently, yet the interior of the room stirred with violent wind.

“It’s all that woman’s fault!

Because of her, my sister had to leave the Ten Seats.

She locks herself in all day, clutching that woman’s photo, mumbling things I can’t even understand.

She ignores me completely.

It’s all her fault!

She’ll pay for what she did!

She’ll suffer like my sister did!”

And yet…

There was something else Xingyu couldn’t let go of.

—“Oops~ My bad! I was going to pick your sister next, but you two look so alike, I got confused! Teehee~ You’re not brain-damaged now, are you?”

That demonic woman’s voice still echoed in her nightmares.

Got confused?

How casually she said that.

Because of that mix-up, Xingyu hadn’t slept for two whole nights.

She nearly lost her mind.

Next time, I’ll carve my mark into your body—make sure you’ll never forget who I am!

[I can’t see anything—I can’t see—I can’t see—I can’t see—]

Nightingale was still covering her face, unwilling to confront reality.

---

Xingyu and Liyun’s CGs were added to the list.

Luo You kept searching.

She had conquered plenty of magical girls.

It would be laughable to use just two or three CGs at a time.

One more.

Just one more.

“Next… Oh? Isn’t this the one from the Sea of Realms? Goes by Jinwang now, right?”

The image of Jinwang was drastically different from her current look.

Back then, she had tied up her long hair like a tomboy.

Even wore a chest binder.

Unexpectedly… she was quite “well-equipped.”

“She didn’t care much for appearance back then.

Dressed like some scrappy delinquent.

Now she’s blossomed into a proper young lady, huh.”

---

“…There are still so many I didn’t know about…”

Ji Yue’s pupils trembled violently.

She never imagined so many Ten Seat members had been involved with Elera.

It was terrifying.

Wait… could even Jinwang have…?!

She glanced nervously at the golden-haired woman.

If even this woman had been tainted by Elera…

Then Ji Yue’s long-held admiration would completely collapse.

Fortunately, reality wasn’t that cruel.

While the others were visibly agitated, Jinwang simply sat quietly, resting her cheek on her hand, playing absently with a strand of golden hair.

She looked utterly indifferent.

Snap a photo right now, and she’d make the front page of every magazine.

Advertisers would line up for weeks.

The public saw her as “brave” and “aggressive”—your textbook tomboy.

But in truth… she was elegant, full of feminine charm.

That contrast was what made her so magnetic.

“Yeah.

We definitely need to track her down,” Jinwang said calmly.

“There are a lot of girls who still need answers from her.”

Yet even as she spoke, a vivid memory rose unbidden—

A soft bed.

Golden and silver hair, soaked with sweat, tangled together like silk, forming a waterfall across the sheets.

Elera had taken a lock of her golden hair, twined it with her own silver strands, then whispered—

“You’ve got such a lovely figure—why pretend to be a boy all the time?

I really like your hair… such a beautiful gold.

It suits me perfectly.

Why waste it by tying it up?”

“I-I was just trying to prove I wasn’t—”

“Some meaningless ideal, right?

I don’t care what you believe.

But in my eyes—

You’re a female.”

That line snapped Jinwang out of her reverie.

Female… huh?

---

In the bath, a pale leg stretched into a tight line.

Her toes curled gracefully before falling back into the water, exhausted.

Seconds passed.

“…Still not enough.”

Luo You emerged from the water, face full of frustration.

She came in for a soak, but ended up this desperate?

She had already used up all the spell materials.

Time to find another.

“Next… huh.”

She stumbled upon a CG that made her fall silent.

“Xingyue…”

Even now, Luo You didn’t understand what that woman was thinking.

She could never forget their duel.

—“Elera, how about we skip the boring foreplay and jump straight to the endgame?

You’ve defeated countless magical girls—prided yourself on it.

Don’t you want to see if those well-honed techniques of yours can beat me head-on?”

Even now, the memory felt unreal.

That woman—Xingyue—had actually challenged her to a duel on the bed.

And she said it with a straight face.

Coming from the First Seat of the Alliance, it was unthinkable.

The proposal was so novel that Luo You hadn’t thought twice.

As a magical girl hunter, how could she refuse a challenge from a magical girl?

By all logic, she should’ve had the upper hand.

Her record was near flawless—magical girls falling one after another in utter disgrace.

Even if Xingyue was legendary, she was still human… right?

But the truth was—

All her confidence, her skills, her experience…

They shattered against Xingyue’s unflinching, emotionless indifference.

“Even if she’s frigid, there’s no way she wouldn’t react at all, right?!

Was her body modified or something?!”

Luo You groaned at the ceiling.

Of course, a royal duel wasn’t one-sided.

Back and forth was the natural flow.

After failing to make any progress, Luo You gave up attacking and focused on defense instead.

If I can’t get through her—

Can she get through me?

Then Xingyue absolutely got through her.

Thoroughly.

While Luo You lay stunned, Xingyue exhaled into her neck and whispered—

“Elera, Aurora Witch…

You don’t match the rumors at all.

They say you’ve conquered hundreds…

But your body is complete trash~”

To salvage a shred of pride, Luo You had used the Spirit-Coral of Null to launch a desperate counterattack—finally causing Xingyue to collapse, unconscious.

Then she fled in shame.

The moment she used the Spirit-Coral, she had already lost.

Utterly.

That day…

She awakened something inside her.

Something feminine.